Committed to Discovering Life Without Adhering to “Normalcy”

… and whiskers on kittens

If you have been reading my personal blog over the past few years, as well as what I have contributed here at NDIN, then you have been exposed to a few of the stranger things that I have revealed about myself.

There is one collection that I have that I have not told you about. It isn’t a secret. It just doesn’t come up in conversation that much. So, here it goes. Hi, My name is Emily and I collect cat whiskers.

Actually, my dad started this collection. We moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota when I was ten years old. With moving, comes a lot of boxes. One of the tall boxes ended up in my parents new bedroom, waiting to be unpacked. Before long our two cats found the top of this box to be the purr-fect perch on which to sleep, look outside, and all-around hang out. When the box was finally unpacked, it stayed here covered with a nice blanket to make this purr-fect cat perch more comfortable.

Our cats used this perch constantly. One day my dad found a cat whisker on the blanket and showed it to me. A purr-fect, long cat whisker. I always loved cat whiskers and here was my dad showing me one. I was around 11 years old. He thought it was pretty special and found a little box for it and showed me where he put it in his desk drawer. I could go in there anytime I wanted to and take a peak.

As the years went on, more whiskers were placed for safe keeping in the little box and the cat whisker collection grew. Every now and then a newly found whisker would stand out and my dad would measure it to see if it was the longest in the collection.

I have the little box now and my cats whiskers have added to it over the years. After admiring the long beautiful whiskers on my friends cats, I opened our mailbox one day to find that he had sent us one of his cat whiskers to add to the collection. It is still the longest in the collection.

I can spot a cat whisker from across the room. I have found cat whiskers in most of the rooms in our house; on the floor, on our bed. I can even spot them across the room (only if it is a white whisker on a dark color or black whisker on a light color though.) If whiskers do come up in conversation and I tell someone about my collection, they are amazed that I can even find the whiskers and claim they have never seen one in all the years they have cats. While they are amazed I find them, I am amazed that they haven’t.

Do you have cats ad have you ever found whiskers?

Sincerely, Emily

You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.

I don’t collect them but 2 of our cats have had the most beautiful whiskers and I wish we had collected our now gone Ginger’s whiskers. He was such a sweet, big fellow that I wish we had more than memories and pictures of him. And yes, I spot whiskers everywhere!

Hi Lorelei – you have mentioned your cat named Ginger before. I am glad that you do have photos of him. I have the collar from one of our cats still. I usually re-used them, but I just could not do that with his. There are still times I hear the click on his tags. Powerful stuff. A few years ago I decided to take all their collars off. I am sure they feel so much better. I am glad they all had collars when were were in CA and in a busy neighborhood, but they hardly leave the house anymore and don’t go far (and they are all chipped now)

ohh cool i am glad i am not the only one who collects cat whiskers, i have doen this for as long as i have had my current cat, Fric. she leaves them laying about the place. i have a little test-tube with stopper that i keep them in. My cat Fric has white whiskers, as she is one of those tuxedo cats, which we call black and white moggies here in NZ..

not even sure if i will ever do anything with them persay but i do love them.. *grins*

Hi PP – oh how neat (and strange at the same time) that there is someone else out there collecting them. I don’t have plans for my whisker collection… it just is what it is. The little test tube you keep your in sounds perfect. Fric sounds beautiful.

Real Food Challenge

This year we celebrated our Second Annual Real Food Challenge. Challenging ourselves and our readers to eat fewer processed foods and focus on eating Real Food for the entire month of March.

While the month of March is now over, we still plan to continue the Real Food Challenge by keeping in touch with our readers every few weeks. We want to support our community with advice, recipes, and even giveaways when possible so that all of us can live and eat healthier.

Whether you eat mostly fast food or already make just about everything at home, there's something for everyone in this challenge. We can all make a change whether small or large.

Join the challenge, check back often and give us your feedback - we're excited to hear how you're all doing in your quest to Eat REAL Food!